5 current UFC fighters who have been successful despite being one-dimensional
While the UFC once pitted different styles of martial arts against one another, these days, to survive in the promotion, a fighter must have well-rounded skills in all areas.
Despite most of the UFC’s stars being well-rounded in the current era, there are still a handful of more one-dimensional fighters who have been able to find success in the octagon.
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How these fighters have made their success tends to vary based on a number of variables, but it’s always fascinating to see, particularly as it’s not all that common any more.
With that in mind, here are five current UFC fighters who have been successful despite being one-dimensional.
#5. Israel Adesanya – UFC middleweight champion
One of the most successful fighters currently in the UFC who appears to be one-dimensional is definitely reigning middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya. Thus far, he’s only been beaten once in 12 visits to the octagon and that was when he moved up to 205 pounds.
However, while he’s basically run right through every opponent he’s faced at 185 pounds, including great fighters like Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa and Derek Brunson, the only tool that ‘The Last Stylebender’ has really used has been his striking.
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Israel Adesanya ends the rivalry with Paulo Costa inside two rounds with a dominant display!
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Sure, Adesanya is not a one-dimensional striker by any means, as he’s capable of boxing, kicking and also using a more unorthodox attack, but he certainly isn’t likely to be seen reaching for the clinch or shooting for a takedown any time soon.
To be fair to ‘The Last Stylebender’, he may well have a highly-underrated grappling game, although his loss to Jan Blachowicz suggested that wasn’t the case. After all, Anderson Silva was a very dangerous grappler who simply didn’t need to use that facet of his game, and the same could be said for Adesanya.
Therefore, until he’s actually forced to change up his approach, something that isn’t likely given the level of success he’s had, it’s probably safe to label the middleweight king as a one-dimensional fighter, albeit one who is truly great.